City to move ahead on 7 boat launches

Council’s Urban Planning Committee has given the go-ahead for a proposal to have seven docks and boat launches built. The plan is to expand on what is already there now.

“What we’re doing is formalizing them,” Rob Marchak, the city’s director of urban initiatives told reporters. “We’re creating some seating areas. We’re creating floating docks that will be taken out during the winter that people can actually access. So what here for is to get that approval which now allows us to go forward and actually tender the projects.”

These will be considered hand-launches for things like canoes, kayaks and paddleboards. Something Coun. Ben Henderson said is in demand. “We’re seeing way more kayakers on the river right now. You’re seeing way more canoes on the river. You’re seeing people use it again and I think that’s a good thing. I think that’s taking advantage of one of the great assets that we have. It’s the whole point of making sure we have the river valley is that people can use it as the recreational space that it is.”

Wednesday’s step was to get the environmental approvals needed. “You want to do your due diligence to make sure that you’re not doing damage to the river,” Henderson said. “That really what this report is, is saying yes we’re going to make sure that we’re not doing damage to the river, not just in the final product in how you construct it, in getting silt in the river, or getting dirt into the river.”

The money was taken care of years ago. “Part of our third that the city put in is actually money that we’ve gotten from the province. So the City of Edmonton taxpayer directly is only putting in two per cent of the $2 million project,” Marchak said.